Orø

Marina near Brønde

Last edited 09.07.2025 at 13:26 by NV Charts Team

Latitude

55° 45.32' N

Longitude

11° 47.999' E

Description

Ferry pier and fishing port on the southwest side of the island of the same name, today mainly used by pleasure craft.

NV Cruising Guide

Navigation

The lighted harbor (Oc.WRG.5s) can be called at day and night. From the red fairway buoy of the "Orø Vestre Løb" you head directly for the western pier head (at night in the white sector of the pier light). The last 200 m before the pier heads consist of an unmarked dredged channel with a target depth of 2.5 m.

Berths

There is not much space for guests here, as the harbor is heavily used by local pleasure craft. The best place to moor is on the port side in the western part of the harbor at a water depth of approx. 2.5 m. The ferry jetty is closed to pleasure craft.

Surroundings

The very scenic harbor offers no other services at the harbor apart from very basic sanitary facilities. There is a supermarket 1 km away. There is a ferry connection to Holbaek.

Tornehage: Opposite the port of Orø on the edge of the forest is a jetty belonging to the Holbaek Sailing Club. Yachts can moor here for short periods. However, overnight stays are not permitted.

NV Land Guide

If you are looking for seclusion, you should not visit this beautiful island during the vacation season. The car traffic from the ferry then causes too much disturbance. At weekends, the 15 km² island is a popular destination for sailors from Holbæk. So you will have peace and quiet if you sail to Orø in the early or late season and preferably not on a weekend. The ratio of around 500 residents to over 1,200 vacation homes clearly shows what people do for a living in addition to farming.

Queen Margaret I (1375-1412) once had a quieter time when she visited her pleasure palace on her island. Unfortunately, nothing remains of the fortress, which is said to have been located near the church to the north of the Byberg. Instead, a copy of the queen's cross in the island's museum commemorates the great ruler of Denmark. Around 1850, the original exhibited in the National Museum in Copenhagen was found on the island by a girl.

The "Ourø Minder" museum in Byberg (Memories from Ourø) is located in the former poorhouse on Orø. Built in 1803, it served as accommodation for the poor until 1893. Today, it houses both local history objects and a large collection of writings about the island. But the most interesting find is not the aforementioned cross or prehistoric tools, but kitchen waste - that's right, no spelling mistake: waste (in Danish: Køkkenmøddinger). What makes the garbage so interesting is that it dates back to the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, proving that the island has been inhabited since this time. However, the kitchen waste is not on display. If you want to see other evidence of early settlement on the island, you will have to make do with the three remaining Bronze Age graves. 125 of these burial mounds, misused as building material, are said to have once stood on Orø. From the Viking Age, legend tells of a brutal chieftain named Borre, whose name still appears as a field name or on road signs.

During the Swedish Wars, the entire male population of the island almost fell victim to a quarrel in which a young man and a Swedish officer came to blows. After the officer was found dead in the forest, all the men were locked in the church and it was set on fire. They owed their lives to the pastor's intercessions with the Swedish king.

It takes about 20 minutes to walk from the harbour to the main town of Bybjerg, where there is also a cosy Kro (country inn). A visit to the village church, built around 1300, is recommended due to its various carvings and Renaissance stalls. Excursions to the settlements of Nørrestenge (north-west), Næsby (north-east) and Gamløse (east) are a must during your visit, as this is the only way to see the entire landscape of the "Pearl of the Isefjord".

You can only moor for a short time at the jetty opposite the port of Orø.